World Wide Theme in the ECE Field
While looking into some international resources of the ECE field I found the common themes of current issues revolving around the field are similar to what every field is concerned about at the moment the global pandemic and its effects on our emotional and physical well-being. Some may tend to overlook the effects on the social and emotional effects this pandemic may have on young children. Though they may not completely and fully grasp what is going on they can understand the grasp on how things are different than their usual routine. Between the not going out and seeing people they usually see, the use of masks whenever they leave the house, and the loss of loved ones young children are experience stressors, anxiety, and panic just as teens, adolescents, adults, and elderly. It is essential that children feel safe, loved, and nurtured in their ECE environments, rather it is a center, a caregiver's house, or staying at home with their parents.
This video from the Harvard University Center of the Developing child demonstrates and shows the lifetime effects toxic stress can have on people as they get older.
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/toxic-stress-derails-healthy-development/
Now more than ever we need to make sure that our children do not face neglect because of the hard times the world is going through.
A research article that I found very intriguing was one based in China. An early childhood educator who works at a kindergarten in Beijing shares her findings of what the parents at her school found to be helpful and not so helpful in terms of Online learning. At the end of the article the author, Sunfei, gives helpful tips to other kindergarten teachers who are teaching online at the moment to help them connect well with their students and families. Sunfei shares how long you should make your video, how to appear and what to do in the video or lesson plan, and what time of the day usually works best to coordinate with parents' schedules. One piece of advice that I found to be very useful and beneficial was, “Individual online home visits. Teachers make an online visit to the student's home, in particular, to homes where parents are busy or children have special needs. They check on the child's condition and give parents advice on education”(Sunfei 2020).
This is an excellent choice to make to help check in on the child and parents well being and make sure everyone is safe and well particularly with families going through hard times or have children with various developmental delays. One on one visits can help make a child feel special, loved, and cared for and show them that they are not alone.
Reference
Center on the Developing Child–Harvard University. (n.d.). Three core concepts in early development: 3. Toxic stress derails healthy development. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/toxic-stress-derails-healthy-development/
Sunfei. 2020. [China] Online Early Childhood Education in China during COVID-19: Schools Close, but Children Keep Learning. Child Research Net. https://www.childresearch.net/projects/ecec/2020_02.html
